Sjan de Weert, board member

Sjan worked for 17 years as an independent midwife and sonographer. From 2007 onward, she managed an ultrasound center, where equipment management was part of her responsibilities. Drawing on her extensive leadership experience and broad knowledge of healthcare, she is eager to contribute to the Mount Meru Foundation.

Saja Erens, secretary

Saja has a background as an obstetrical sonographer and has a great passion for mother and child care in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, she worked as a midwife for a month and a half at a local hospital in Northern Tanzania. After her return she became a board member of the Foundation. She is mainly concerned with maintaining and expanding Tanzanian contacts and is actively involved in setting up local projects.

Anna Lied Poelstra-Sanders, treasurer

Anna Lied has worked as a midwife in both primary and secondary care. During the last ten years of her working life, she focused on screening ultrasounds.

Now, in her third phase of life, she is committed to maternal and child healthcare in Tanzania—the Mount Meru Foundation.

Lucie Driessen, chairman

Lucie worked with great dedication and enjoyment for 40 years as a midwife in an academic hospital in the Netherlands. There, she contributed to prenatal, natal, and postnatal care. For the last 10 years, she worked as a manager and regional coordinator for the perinatal audit. Since her retirement, she has been using her knowledge and experience to support our Foundation.

In addition, she works as a volunteer at the Radboudumc on the NICU, where she supports parents and families and helps them find their way around the department.

Yona Kadege, management assistant

Yona is project coordinator of the Mount Meru Foundation and maintains our local contacts in Tanzania. He worked as a nurse and pharmaceutical assistant in a local hospital in Tanzania. Today he lives and works in Belgium, but he is still very committed to mother and child care in his country. Yona is fluent in Maasai in addition to English and Swahili. His knowledge of the region, the local languages and culture and Tanzanian healthcare are indispensable to the work of our Foundation.

Phons Stokkermans, webmaster

Phons realized this website, which he also manages and maintains. After having worked in information technology for over 32 years, he has been enjoying his early retirement for a number of years. This gives him time to use his knowledge as a volunteer for our Foundation.

Margriet van der Weel-Roem, co-founder (1955 - 2022) †
Margriet was an obstetrician and obstetrical sonographer. She visited Tanzania several times. These trips are at the origin of the Mount Meru Foundation, which Margriet founded in 2015 together with Anna Lied, among others. The basic principle was that sharing obstetric and ultrasound knowledge: costs little, has a long-lasting effect and helps to reduce maternal and child mortality that is too high.